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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Mackenna Vickery, Paralegal at The Door's Legal Services Center
5:11:15
ยท
116 sec
Mackenna Vickery, a paralegal from The Door's Legal Services Center, testified about the challenges faced by young immigrants in New York City and the potential impact of increased ICE enforcement. She emphasized the need for protecting immigrant youth's access to safe shelters, education, and legal pathways like Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).
- Highlighted concerns about ICE raids on emergency response and relief centers where vulnerable young immigrants are being housed
- Stressed the importance of maintaining schools as safe zones, particularly for specialized transfer and international schools serving recent immigrants
- Warned about the potential chilling effect on SIJS cases if undocumented guardians fear becoming visible to immigration authorities
- Urged the City Council to adopt proposed resolutions and bills to maintain New York's status as a sanctuary city
Mackenna Vickery
5:11:15
Good afternoon.
5:11:16
Thank you for your work and your time here today.
5:11:18
My name is McKenna Vickery, and I'm a paralegal with the Doors Legal Services Center.
5:11:22
The Door is a comprehensive youth development organization.
5:11:25
Our legal services center specializes in serving young people in their immigration cases.
5:11:29
Many immigrant young people, including those who cross the border as unaccompanied children, rely on safe access to New York City shelters as they process their immigration cases and find their footing in the city.
5:11:39
Facing a shortage of beds in youth shelters, we have seen vulnerable 18, 19, and 20 year olds being placed in emergency response and relief centers, which are easy targets for ICE since their shelter is designed specifically for immigrants, the vast majority of whom do not yet have legal status.
5:11:53
If ICE is permitted to conduct raids on shelters or allowed to access personal identifying information about immigrants in shelters, many young people would be left without a safe place to live.
5:12:02
For young immigrants who are seeking legal protection from the rest of their lives or severe abuse, neglect, or abandonment, such lack of access to safe residences would be detrimental to their mental and physical well-being.
5:12:12
Door members have expressed similar concerns that schools will soon be targeted during ice raids, jeopardizing their safety and their access to education and key support systems.
5:12:20
The city must ensure that schools remain safe zones and to take particular steps to protect students at specialized transfer and international schools, which primarily serve recent immigrants.
5:12:29
Finally, increased ICE presence could severely impact young people's ability to seek special immigrant juvenile status or SIDGE.
5:12:36
To be granted SIDGE, a young person needs to have a legal guardian in New York City.
5:12:40
The guardian's immigration status does not matter.
5:12:42
An adult can go through the family court guardianship process even if they're undocumented.
5:12:46
However, with the incoming administration, participating in a young person SIDGE case could make undocumented New Yorkers dangerously visible to immigration authorities.
5:12:54
Such a shift could leave many young people without viable guardians, depriving them of their right to obtain legal status.
5:12:59
In the interest of protecting young people's rights to seek legal status, attend schools, and access shelters, it is imperative that the city council adopt today's proposed resolutions and bills that promise to maintain New York's position as a sanctuary city.
5:13:10
Thank you.